“Most of our customers like to prepare for pretty much every condition.”

Sarah Stone, operations manager for fashion at John Lewis in Barker’s Pool, said the wet weather had driven up sales of umbrellas.

“In our women’s wear department, customers have been buying more rain jackets, with brands such as Four Seasons and Barbour selling particularly well,” she said.

“The menswear department has also seen an increase in demand for outerwear.”

Part of Chesterfield Road was closed from Valley Road to Albert Road yesterday due to flooding, and local football matches on council-owned pitches also risk being cancelled because of waterlogging.

But a spokesman said referees will decide whether to abandon games.

“We have checked with the parks officers about the football pitches and they have decided to leave it to the referees to decide on match day,” he said.

“However, due to the ground conditions and the forecast of further rain, the line markings may be poor or non-existent on some sites where staff are unable to mark out, and this may influence the referees’ decisions.”